


but I still come back to you

by CreatePeaceFromChaos



Series: Glitter & Gold [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 5+1 Things, Background Relationships, Boys In Love, Canon Divergence - Post-Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Everybody Lives, Fix-It of Sorts, Friends to Lovers, Hermione Granger is So Done, Idiots in Love, M/M, Oblivious Harry Potter, Oblivious Ron Weasley, Requited Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:08:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26026990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreatePeaceFromChaos/pseuds/CreatePeaceFromChaos
Summary: Ron Weasley and Harry Potter were best friends, practically attached at the hip. It was rare for anyone in Hogwarts to see one of them without the other close by. They were close, too; closer than most, and Harry was the only person Ron would ever willingly shared food with.Was it any surprise that practicallyeveryonethought they were dating?(Or: Five times people thought Ron and Harry were dating, and the one time someone thought they weren't.)
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ron Weasley
Series: Glitter & Gold [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1871959
Comments: 10
Kudos: 364





	but I still come back to you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mogseltof](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mogseltof/gifts).



> For the square "Everyone thinks we're a couple" for the Glitter & Gold bingo. For Mogseltof, who requested a Ron/Harry fic!
> 
> Title from Queen's "You're My Best Friend"

** 5\. Hermione Granger **

She was starting to struggle with her classes, even with the help of the time-turner, but she absolutely refused to admit defeat. She was going to learn _everything_ Hogwarts had to offer, and she was going to _excel_ at it.

The stress she was putting herself under was making it hard for her to take notice of changes with her two best friends, but even _she_ wasn’t so oblivious as to miss the very significant act of Ron transferring the last sausage from his own plate to Harry’s. She almost dropped her fork, fumbling with it and managing to only _just_ manage to put it down without flinging the last of her eggs into poor Neville’s lap. It took a moment for her to process what she’d just seen, and then she hid a grin as she picked up her fork once more. She’d been expecting the two of them to get their act together and start dating at _some_ point, but she hadn’t thought it would be so soon!

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Neville said quietly, and Hermione looked at him. He looked resigned, and far more put out than Hermione usually saw him even at his most distressed.

“About what?” she asked, and Neville looked pointedly at Ron and Harry before his eyes found hers again.

“They’re not together yet. Drives us all batshit,” Seamus put in from Hermione’s other side, quieter than he usually was at meals. Dean, across from Seamus and next to Harry, gave Hermione a longsuffering stare before returning his attention to his breakfast.

“Are you sure?” she asked. “Ron doesn’t share food with just anyone.”

“We’re sure,” Neville muttered. “Would make things so much easier on all of us if either of them had a clue.” Hermione snorted, startled into the display of humour by Neville’s uncharacteristically snide words.

“How long do you think it’ll be until they realise?” she asked.

“The Twins have a betting pool going on that,” Seamus told her with a grin, wiggling his eyebrows at her suggestively. “Want in?”

“If I do, I’ll sort that out for myself, thank you,” she said primly, and then returned to her breakfast while Dean laughed at Seamus’ exaggerated pout. She kept an eye on Ron and Harry, noting how they leaned towards each other without really seeming to notice they were doing so, and decided she would find Fred or George later to place her bet.

The two oblivious, emotionally constipated boys wouldn’t get their acts together for at least two years, and not until someone else prompted them. Even if she’d mistaken their current emotional relationship, she knew them well enough to make an informed guess as to when they’d _actually_ sort themselves out.

** 4\. Sirius Black **

Seeing his godson’s friend attempt to stand on a broken leg in defence of Harry just confirmed something Sirius had been suspecting since the first time he’d seen the two of them together around the school grounds. They were close, close like he and Moony had been, close like he hoped he and Moony could be again, and Sirius was _glad_ that his godson had someone as faithful as the young Weasley boy.

Even if he did think they were a little too young to be dating… not that he had much room to talk on that matter, considering he’d started around the same age.

Still, he approved, and so he wanted to make sure his godson knew that before he had to flee again.

“And Harry?” he called, just as his godson and Hermione stepped back so Buckbeak could take flight. Harry turned to look to him again, confusion written all over his small face. “I approve of your boyfriend.” He settled onto the hippogriff’s back and held tight as the creature took flight, just faintly hearing a confused “boyfriend?” from his godson before he was out of earshot.

_Hermione sighed at the confusion on Harry’s face, despairing yet again of his wilful blindness on the matter._

_“He’s talking about Ron, Harry,” she told him, making sure to keep her frustration from her voice._

_“Huh…” Harry sounded – and looked – utterly baffled. “Bit weird of him to put it that way, isn’t it?”_

_“…what?” Surely he wasn’t that obtuse…_

_“Saying he approves of me being mates with Ron. Bit weird to put it that way, isn’t it?”_

_Hermione put her face in her hands with a groan._

_Yes, yes he actually was that obtuse. Lovely._

**3\. Cedric Diggory**

He’d suspected it since the youngest Weasley boy had glared at him over Potter’s shoulder while Cedric told Potter about the prefect baths, but he’d yet to really get any confirmation on the matter either way. He’d thought that perhaps he was wrong when Potter showed up to the Yule Ball with one of the Patil twins, but then he saw Weasley with the other twin looking very disgruntled, and _wondered_.

Were they not willing to have their relationship be known to the public yet? There was a lot of media coverage of the Triwizard Tournament, and Cedric had seen how fickle the wizarding public could be about Potter, so he couldn’t blame the younger teen for wanting to keep his relationship private.

His thoughts on the matter were only confirmed when he overheard the Patil twins talking near the punch table while their dates sat side-by-side across the other side of the hall.

“…didn’t realise how sullen he would be about not getting to come with his boyfriend,” one of the twins, the one who’d come with Weasley, was saying to the other.

“Harry at least tried to make sure I’ve been enjoying myself,” the second replied. “I’m going to go see if one of the Beauxbatons boys wants to dance, though. Harry’s got two left feet.”

“I don’t know how good a dancer Ron is,” the other twin grumbled, “because he’s just been sulking the entire night.”

“Do you think they practiced together?” Both twins were silent for a moment, and then they giggled.

“It would make sense that Harry can’t lead if Ron usually does,” one said, and then they giggled again.

Cedric was distracted from his eavesdropping when Cho pressed up against his side, smiling brightly.

“What’s taking so long?” she asked teasingly, and Cedric grinned and passed her the glass of punch he’d managed to procure.

“Just hearing some suspicions confirmed.” He grabbed another glass and offered his date his arm, putting the matter of Potter and Weasley’s relationship out of his mind for the moment.

_Months later, laid up in a hospital bed to recover from being under the effects of a poorly-cast but still effective Crucio, Cedric bore witness to the defeated, despairing, long-suffering look on Hermione Granger’s face as she watched Ron Weasley fussing over Harry Potter’s health and wellbeing._

_“They aren’t dating yet, Hermione told me,” Cho whispered in his ear, and Cedric snorted quietly. “They aren’t. They’re both oblivious about it, apparently.”_

_“Is there a betting pool on how much longer that’ll last?” Cedric asked in return, and Cho giggled._

_“I’ll send the Weasley Twins to you.”_

**2\. Ginny Weasley**

She’d had a crush on Harry since before she’d met him, and that crush had only bloomed when he’d spent a few weeks of the summer before her first year at the Burrow. By the end of the year, after the whole Chamber of Secrets incident, her crush had simmered away to nothing more than friendship. And, after seeing how incredibly _gone_ Ron was for Harry, and vice versa, she was perfectly fine with that. Harry would end up part of her family eventually, even if it wasn’t in the way she’d daydreamed of as a child – which she was perfectly fine with, especially when, in her third year, she started noticing how _pretty_ Luna was, and how ethereal she looked when the sun lit her from behind and—

Not the point. Even if it took a few years, Ginny was certain that Ron and Harry would get their shit together and start dating. She had money on it happening by the start of their fifth year – her fourth – so when she saw Ron staring down at a picture of Harry, she was absolutely _certain_ that they’d finally gotten together.

Especially when she saw Harry looking at Ron the same sappy way after he’d been brought to Grimmauld Place.

There were all these little contextual clues, too, which made her sure they’d finally started dating. Ron would share food with Harry, and they were always so physically affectionate with each other in such an _easy_ way – not to mention how they always looked to each other first when they entered a room.

But then, as her fourth year started, she started to wonder. _Were_ they actually dating yet? They’d been a little more physical with each other than usual – a hand on a shoulder lingering a little longer, bodies leaning into each other when they sat next to each other – but they’d been displaying those behaviours for as long as she could recall.

When Ron just about stormed through the castle and hexed Umbridge for what her ‘detention’ had done to Harry, she was sure that she’d seen things right, and that they were dating. But then she caught Hermione and Neville rolling their eyes and exchanging frustrated glances behind Ron and Harry’s backs, and doubted.

In the end, she just decided to ask the person who’d know best – Hermione.

“So are my brother and Harry dating yet, or are they being their usual oblivious selves?” she asked, sliding into the seat beside Hermione’s in the library.

“They’re _so obtuse_ ,” Hermione hissed, her hair bristling like Crookshanks’ fur. She ran a hand through her wild mane and heaved a sigh. “I thought they’d sort themselves out by now, but _no_ , apparently they’re both _too stupid_ to realise how gone they are on each other!”

“Ah,” Ginny replied weakly, slightly stunned by the vehemence in Hermione’s voice, and was grateful for the distraction that was Luna entering the library. “I see Luna, so I’m just going to go…” She slipped out of the chair and darted off as Hermione buried her head in her hands and grumbled incoherently.

Well, apparently Ginny _hadn’t_ won the bet… pity.

**1\. Nymphadora Tonks**

She’d been watching them together ever since she’d met them, and at first she’d thought they were dating – until she heard Hermione bemoaning their obtuseness to the Twin Terrors and their spunky little sister at Christmas. Instead of needling them about it, she’d decided to just sit back and watch, to see what came of it (if anything).

And instead, nothing did. Each time she saw them – rarely during the school terms, but almost every day over the Christmas break and then while everyone was recovering from their foray into the Department of Mysteries and the battle (and subsequent defeat) of Voldemort – she observed them together to try and figure out if they were dating.

So far, after finding out via eavesdropping that they weren’t, the answer had been “no, not yet” and she was starting to get _real sick_ of their lack of progress on the matter. From the way everyone else looked at them when Ron gave food to Harry, or when they’d be leaning against each other on a sofa when there was still plenty of space on other chairs, she wasn’t the only one who was fed up with their lack of clear communication.

But no one was willing to _do_ anything about it!

Sirius and Remus would just watch with amused expressions as Harry hovered worriedly over Ron, helping apply essence of murtlap to the wounds left by the ‘brains’ the redhead had been attacked by in the Department of Mysteries. Molly and Arthur would watch Ron transfer the last of his bacon onto Harry’s plate with fond eyes, but would say nothing. The rest of the teenagers would just roll their eyes or shake their heads when they walked in on the pair almost cuddling while Ron played chess with Kingsley or Fleur, but wouldn’t say or do anything.

Tonks was close to pulling her hair out from frustration. And judging from how much bigger and frazzled Hermione’s hair was getting, she wasn’t the only one.

Tonks finally reached the end of her patience when – as she was coming down the stairs one morning – she saw Harry and Ron just standing and staring at each other awkwardly in the doorway to the bedroom she knew they were sharing. The perfect idea came to her in that instant, and she acted without much further thought.

A quick shove of Harry’s back and he stumbled into Ron, knocking both of them through the doorway and back into the room, and Tonks whipped out her wand to cast a powerful locking charm at the door. The door sealed shut, and Tonks grinned as she stowed her wand once more.

“Tonks, what the hell?!” Harry shouted from inside, and Tonks cackled.

“You’re staying in there together until you snog!” she called back, and cackled again when she heard one of the boys – probably Ron, it sounded more like him than Harry – made a sound like Crookshanks when someone stepped on his tail.

Happy with herself, and intending to come back and check on them in an hour or so, Tonks continued on her way down the stairs.

_Hermione sighed and shook her head as Tonks bounded down the stairs, and drew her wand to quickly cast the counter-charm on Harry and Ron’s bedroom door. She opened it a moment later, and stood there in their way when they made to go after Tonks._

_“Thanks, Hermione,” Harry said with clear relief, cheeks pink, and Hermione sighed and folded her arms over her chest._

_“Despite disagreeing with her methods, she has a point,” she said firmly. “You two need to talk about your mutual crush on each other, for the love of magic! It’s becoming more than a little ridiculous.”_

_She turned as Harry and Ron both spluttered at her wordlessly, heading down towards the kitchen with the intent of scolding Tonks for her well-meaning but ill-conceived plan. It was only as she reached the next floor’s landing that she allowed herself to smirk._

_Perhaps now her idiot boys would get a clue_.

** +1. Draco Malfoy **

There was something _weird_ about Potter this year, but he couldn’t place it. Admittedly he was a bit distracted – things had changed drastically over the summer, what with the Dark Lord having been defeated by Potter at the end of the previous school year, and he was still trying to figure out where he fit in their changed world – and wasn’t at his best or most observant, but there was _something different_ and by all that was sacred he was _going to figure it out_.

Then, in about mid-December, he spied something on Potter’s neck. A bruise, rather distinctively shaped like someone’s mouth – and it suddenly clicked.

 _Potter was dating someone_.

And that someone was leaving some pretty heavy marks on him, too.

Draco felt like cackling with glee. He had something to focus on, now; he had a goal to achieve: he was going to find out who was dating Potter.

It wasn’t the Weaselette. Draco had thought she was the most logical choice, but then he’d seen her holding hands with Looney Lovegood and caught the pair of them kissing in an alcove, so it couldn’t be either of them – unless it was both of them, but he didn’t think that was the case.

It wasn’t Granger, either – she had a thing starting with Pansy, and Draco knew well that Pansy didn’t share.

It wasn’t any of the other Gryffindor girls, because the Weaselette and Granger were the only two Gryffindor girls who spent time with Potter.

Was it a boy, maybe? Wouldn’t surprise Draco, really – Potter had never really seemed the type to go for a girl.

It wasn’t Finnegan or Thomas or Longbottom – Finnegan and Thomas had been a pair since almost first year, and Longbottom had something with Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot that Draco wasn’t going to touch with a ten-foot pole.

And Potter was _never anywhere without Weasel_. They’d always been like that, it wasn’t anything new, but how was Draco supposed to find out who Potter was seeing if the two of them were never apart?

By the time February rolled around, Draco had considered every single possibility and had yet to get enough evidence to prove any of the options to be true. It was making him moody, grumpy (though he’d never admit it aloud), and he had taken to glaring across the Great Hall at Potter during meals – though not too often, otherwise he might draw too much attention he _didn’t_ want to himself.

It was during breakfast one day that things finally came to a head. He’d been observing Potter (as usual), who was sitting beside Weasel (as usual), when he saw Weasel transfer a few strips of bacon across to Potter’s plate.

No… surely not? Not _Weasel?_

“Really, Potter?” He asked, louder than intended and just as a lull came in the Great Hall’s noise. _“Weasel?”_

The murmurs fell away to dead silence, and Draco steadfastly _refused_ to allow himself to blush at the sudden attention.

And then Weasel _smirked_ at him – Ron Weasley should not _smirk_ , what the _fuck_ – and visibly (pointedly yet somehow very casually) laced his fingers with Potter’s on top of the table between their plates.

“You jealous, ferret?” he asked loudly, still smirking.

Draco lost the battle with his blush and felt his face heat rapidly.

Laughter sounded from a few Gryffindors, and the noise level in the Great Hall picked up again. Draco sank down slightly in his seat, and Pansy heaved a great sigh from where she sat beside him.

“They’ve been together for _months_ , Draco, honestly,” she muttered.

Draco sank further in his seat and refused to look at Potter or Weasel for the rest of the meal.

** Bonus: Ron Weasley and Harry Potter **

Harry managed to contain his laughter until they were alone, having ducked into an empty classroom, and then broke into side-splitting cackles as Ron laughed loudly beside him.

“Did you see his face?” Harry gasped out, and Ron’s laughter doubled in volume and intensity.

“He must’ve been the only one in the entire school who didn’t know,” Ron managed to get out once his laughter eased, and that set Harry off again. His eyes were watering from the intensity, and his ribs were starting to ache.

They shared their humour at Malfoy’s expense for a few more minutes, and then Harry straightened when Ron’s big, warm hand touched his shoulder. He stepped closer to his boyfriend and wrapped an arm around his waist, tilting his face up for the light, tender kiss that was placed upon his lips as Ron’s arms wrapped around him in turn.

“I love you,” Ron whispered against his mouth, and Harry buried his suddenly hot face in his best friend and boyfriend’s neck. Ron chuckled, and his arms tightened around Harry’s back. Harry couldn’t say it back, not yet, always struggling with words to go with his emotions, but he pressed a kiss to the skin beneath this face and knew that Ron understood when one hand moved up to the back of his neck and squeezed gently.

He couldn’t say it back yet, but he loved Ron more than anything.

Even magic.


End file.
